Day Nineteen

London Travel Blog

Today I rode bus #11 its entire route from Liverpool Street to Chelsea for my class assignment. I was going to talk about these two little kids on the bus with me, but I realized that all the cute stories are the kind you'd have to witness to appreciate. So I'll just say, and you have to trust me, I got to ride at least part of the way with the most entertaining kids ever. I love little British kids. They're great.

So, I decided to walk to the Liverpool St. bus stop to catch the train. Bad idea. Being the fiscal person that I am, I didn't want to take the subway just three stops. Psh, I can walk it, no sweat I thought to myself. Well the walk itself was no sweat but finding where the station was... not a piece of cake. I had to walk southeast from my dorm and the area was mostly commercial office buildings. It was definitely a new part of London I've never seen... no tourists, just workers mostly. It was confusing finding my way, but I did. Eventually. It only took I don't know 45 minutes.

The bus started out at Liverpool St. which is kind of like a mini-Grand Central. Tons of buses, subway, trains to the airport, shopping center. Hustling, bustling, people coming, people going. I liked it... reminded me of NYC. In the beginning traffic was brutal. It was around 11:30 in the morning so I didn't expect too much traffic, rush hour was over. Nope. It was bad.

Started off by passing the Bank of England. It was an impressive looking building. It looked like a beautiful castle. Then the bus passed right by St. Paul's. Basically circled around it. Haven't been there yet, but I'll probably go sometime next week. Looked beautiful.

Then it was on to Fleet Street. Pretty touristy, nothing really compelled me to go back there on my own. Same thing with the Strand. Kind of Canal Street-ish but not really. Wasn't too special, that's all.

Then we got to the outskirts of the Theatre District (I saw three theatres) Then right on into Trafalgar Square which I've been to before. Reminds me of Washington Square Park a little. It would be nice to go back there on a nice sunny day and just read the paper and people watch. I'll have to do that. If it continues being sunny.

Then straight on into classic London--the images you conjure up when you think of England. Downing Street, Whitehall, Houses of Parliament (protesters and all), Westminster Abbey. I walked around Westminster already and took the mandatory Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey photos. But I haven't gone inside any of it and I'm kind of scared to find out how much it costs. But of course I will do that at some point, I'm not in too much of a rush. It was always be there.

Then it was off to Victoria Station, another hustling and bustling station. Nice building, not too much else to say about it.

Then (it's been a while up to this point considering traffic and the frequent stops) it was finally onto a more residential area: Chelsea. We drove up King's Rd. which was really nice. Not touristy or flashy. Just locals. Small movie theatre. Lighting store. Drycleaners. It felt a little like Astor Place to me. It was nice to get away from all the crowded areas of London and see where people actually live. It was very lowkey and the buildings were really nice. Rows of oldfashioned townhouses. Very quaint.

So I ended my journey at Fulham Broadway in Chelsea, a long long way from home. I was only a block from the tube so it was easy to get back (although I did have to transfer twice). It was a nice 30 minute subway ride back, but it gave me a chance to reflect on the journey I took. Who am I kidding... it gave me a chance to close my eyes and listen to my music.

The rest of the day, like usual, was somewhat unproductive. I did homework. I completely intended to do my writeup on the #11 bus--it's only 300 words--but nope I didn't. I was too busy trying to figure out how to watch the latest episode of the American Big Brother. Finally, I figured it out but I probably wasted at least 2 hours testing things out. At least it paid off. I enjoyed watching the show, partially because it's about Americans and I really miss hearing people with normal accents whom I can actually understand. I also think I liked it so much because I worked so damn hard to get it. I really hope I don't waste this much time in the coming weeks trying to get the video clips to work. I need to un-addict myself.

The entire time I have been typing my suitemate has been serenading me with lovely spurts of coughing. I kind of want to smack her. It doesn't even seem like she has to cough, she's just coughing to hear herself. I can't describe it, but if you heard it you'd know what I mean. Like she doesn't sound sick whatsoever except for her stupid dry coughs. I think the real reason I'm so annoyed by it is because, well, let's go back in time... it's July 12th, around 12:00am. Thirty minutes ago. I was on my laptop at the table when I hear my suitemate walking down the hall, annoyingly coughing, holding her laptop. She comes in and where does she sit? Perhaps the empty common room where there are three comfy, empty couches, far far away from my healthy, non-coughing body? No, no, she decides to plop down at the table. Where at the table? Right across from me, so each time she coughs and doesn't cover her mouth I'm in her line of fire! *Cough* Two minute break *Cough* Repeat.

Now, is it just me, or is that that just complete crap? Why does this girl feel the need to go out of her way to infest me with whatever illness she has? Seriously... living with some of these girls I'm constantly amazed at how little manners and common decency people have. Things that seem so obvious to me are, apparently, revolutionary to others. For example, if I were sick I would 1. work in my bedroom rather than in the common room where I can spread my germs to everyone 2. if my roommate were going to sleep and I did need to go into the common room I would have the decency to work as far away as possible from anyone else in the room.

I really hope my roommate next year doesn't suck. Some of the people here are getting me extremely worried. Although, I must say, my actual roommate here is pretty much perfect. I haven't had any problems with her. Pretty much the ideal roommate. I'm just hoping the same can be said next year. I may be flattering myself, but I don't think I'm too demanding a roommate. I just ask that you're considerate (which many of the people here aren't) and don't suck (which many of the people here do).